Reply to Janney PTA raised $1.4 million in one year

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Reply to "Janney PTA raised $1.4 million in one year"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I do think this is sloppy reporting, and I really don't care how much a PTA raises in different schools... I get that as a parent you are willing to donate more to a school if it directly impacts your child.

That being said, I would think with a budget as high as some of these schools have, perhaps they could make a small effort to help schools with much smaller PTO budgets.  The success of the district as a whole should matter to these schools, even if the number one priority is their own population.

For one, many of these "poorer" schools are extremely inexperienced with fundraising, what works, what doesn't, etc.  Reaching out to "mentor" a developing PTO would be so appreciated by schools.  Offering advice, maybe a connection or two, sharing information, etc.  Maybe developing a "Sister PTO" relationship.  Its not just about the money. These schools are struggling just to figure out how to run a PTO, let alone how to raise money.

And if we want to get into the money, perhaps the wealthier PTO's could fund a small grant for other PTO's in the district.  Offering a couple $500-$1000 grants a year to other district PTO's for a worthy cause. It would make such a difference to those school's budgets and would make a small impact on the wealthier school budgets.

I just think there are ways that wealthier schools could use a small portion of their resources for the greater good without negatively impacting their own budgets.[/quote]

[b]But isn't this what our tax dollars are supposed to do?  If there's a problem with per pupil funding, then the city budget is where the attention should go[/b].[/quote]

By this theory, PTO/PTAs should not exist at all.  Per-pupil funding should cover everything.

I was simply pointing out that PTO's with considerable advantages could (and maybe should) make small efforts to help those with considerable hurdles.

Offering a 1-2 hour mentoring session for a developing PTO owould require no money- just some time. It would be such a HUGE help to the developing school and a small burden for an advantaged school.  Offering a small grant- maybe a matching one to help the school develop their own fundraising efforts-... would also be a HUGE help with a small cost.[/quote]

Thank, but no thanks. I'm the fundraising chair of an EOTP Title I school PTA. Our FARMs percentage is in excess of 60%. We can't raise money the way you do, i.e. from parents at the school auctioning their vacation homes to each other. We can't ask for big donations from parents. We can't charge each other $20 to attend house parties. Our higher income parents are also disproportionately ECE/K parents. They often have an under 2 at home. They are exhausted and wont come to fundraisers.

We have to be much more creative about pulling in dollars from the wider community, getting grsnts, haggling for discounts etc.[/quote]

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